Police first use taser, now pepper spray against resident living with dementia
The aged care resident had reportedly threatened to harm other residents and himself, and was armed with a metal object, swinging it at staff who were forced to lock themselves in a room.
NSW Police were called to an aged care home on Wednesday, 19 November in the town of Camden, 65km southwest of the Sydney CBD, following a call about concerns for the welfare of a resident.
"The man had reportedly threatened to harm other residents and himself, while armed with a metal object, swinging it at staff who locked themselves in a room," NSW Police said.
Two police officers found the man in the foyer in an “altered state of consciousness” swinging the object, which was described as being about two-to-three feet long with sharp edges.
He refused to put it down and officers used Oleoresin Capsicum Defensive Spray to diffuse the situation before restraining the 87-year-old.
Assistant Police Commissioner of the south-west Metropolitan Region, Brett McFadden, said police “managed to wrestle the bar” from the man, who was “exercising a level of strength”.
Once the man was restrained, he was assessed by paramedics, and taken to Campbelltown Hospital. It is believed he suffered no physical injuries, other than the effects of the pepper spray.
Assistant Police Commissioner McFadden said that although the man may not have intended to harm anyone, he still posed a risk.
“He was in an awful state of consciousness, so he wasn’t the person that maybe his family knew him to be. This is, again, the challenge," McFadden said.
The incident follows the case of 95-year-old aged care resident Clare Nowland, who also was living with dementia, who was tasered by NSW Police officer Kristian White at her aged care home in Cooma, 100km south of Canberra, in May 2023. The tasering caused Nowland to fall when she suffered head injuries. She was taken to hospital and died a week later.
White was found guilty of manslaughter but avoided jail time. He was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order and 425 hours of community service. An appeal against the sentence was dismissed.
